October 2013

The
Lunar Landing Research Vehicle (LLRV), built by Bell Aerosystems, was an Apollo
Project era program to build a VTOL simulator for the Moon landings. The LLRVs
were flown at what is now the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center, at Edwards
Air Force Base, California, to study and analyze piloting techniques needed to
fly and land the Apollo Lunar Module in the moon's low gravity environment.

The
LLRV was powered by a General Electric CF700-2V turbofan engine with a thrust
of 4,200 lb (19 kN), mounted vertically in a gimbal. It was throttled to
provide thrust equivalent to 5/6th of the vehicle’s weight, thus simulating the
moon’s 1/6 gravitational pull. Hydrogen peroxide rockets then simulated the
behavior of a lunar lander's controls during landing.

Two
LLRVs were built, which led to three Lunar Landing Training
Vehicles (LLTVs) used by Apollo astronauts at what is now Johnson Space
Center in Houston, Texas. Neil Armstrong was flying LLRV-1 on May 6,
1968 when it went out of control. He ejected safely and the vehicle crashed.
Later, two of the LLTVs were also crashed, with pilots also safely ejecting.